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According to the Convention of the Rights of a Child (CRC), a child is any human being under the age of eighteen (Hawes, p. 17). Children are still stuck in a world where they are “to be seen and not heard” and they need to be protected. Various groups are campaigning to protect the children. However, they are unable to function properly if they cannot save the children from harm at home. New York State Department of Social Services is not doing its job to protect the rights of children. Children are the building blocks for the future of the world. With very little rights, children seem to be lost in a society which seems to overlook the importance of youth. From 1800 to 1890, the will to industrialize consumed the world. Children were a cheep source of labor and they worked under very dangerous conditions. Children as young as six or seven years old were sent to work to earn money to help support their families. During 1890’s to the 1920’s, many reforms in children’s rights came about and the era came to be known as, “The Age of the Child.” Social Services first appeared in 1851 and its mission was to promote the social well being of children. In 1882, New York State Social Services Department determined the ages at which a child can work and conditions under which they were able to work; this was known as the “Factory Act” (Hawes, p. 28). A child now must be at least 14 years or older before they are permitted to enter the workforce and they must be at least 16 years old to work at night. The child is also required to attend school. This brought about more problems for the underprivileged families. Social Services never attempted to make advances in the enhancement of the economy. The “slums” based their revenue on child labor. Very often, the eldest child in the family brought in the most income. These new reforms left families hungry and in debt. This era also brought about “the basic rights of a child,” (Hawes, p. 20) such as the rights to education, the freedom from torture, the freedom of movement, and the freedom from discrimination. The rights of a child differ depending on the child’s age, but these rights are still not fully protected. Social Services usually only begins to protect the rights of children once they are born. However, organizations such as the Children’s Bureau consider the embryo the first stage of childhood which must be protected (Nazario, p. 3). About 1.2 million pregnancies are aborted every year. Not to mention the illegal abortions which take place every day, estimating at about 10,000 to 15,000 per year. Laws do not exist which ban abortions and Social Services has not tried to lobby against abortions. The mother has the right to bear children or not to bear children, and that cannot be taken away from her. However, what about the child? Historically, the unborn child was legally considered part of its mother’s body and had no specific rights of its’ own. More recently, the fetus has been considered a child with separate rights from the mother (Nazario, p. 23). If a child has the right to live, and a fetus is a child, it is only fitting the fetus should be granted the right to live also. Social Services is not fully effective if it only protects the rights of Unborn children do not have the right to live, but they have the right to inherit property, have governmental support, financial aid, the right to his or her mother’s care, and the right to be protected from unlawful death. If a person passes away and leaves their inheritance to the unborn child, the child has a right to that property. The child also has the right to governmental support and protective services. A child can collect financial aid, although it is not yet born. The last thing the unborn child has the right to is their mother’s prenatal care (Nazario, p. 57). She cannot do anything to intentionally harm her child or herself during the pregnancy. In the sense of wrongful death, the mother will be charged with negligence. At the time of birth, the child has the right to preventative treatments. They have the right to be taken care of; given medicines, and screening tests to make sure they are healthy (Nazario, p. 59). A parent is required to give his/her child a name so they have their own identity. In the event a child would have severe birth defects, the parent has the choice to decide whether the child will live. If the parent decides to let the child die, the child will not get the treatment they are entitled to. In cases of mental retardation, many parents chose to “murder” their child instead of raising them. The parent can only decide whether they will allow the child to live within the first week of its life. Social Services will rarely intervene in such cases. They feel it is not their place to save a mentally retarded child (Malaspina, p. 54). It is not a fetus at this point. It is a child. Therefore, they are technically taking a life. As a child grows older, his/her rights and responsibilities grow with him/her. From the ages of three to 12, the child has the same rights as a teenager except they are more vulnerable to harm due to their age. At this point in their life, the child is entitled to education, they have the right to be cared for, and they gain the freedom of movement (Hawes, p. 34). They are ignored because, in the eyes of adults, a child is ignorant. This can cause neglect of problems the child may encounter and the abuse of their rights. The first right of a child which needs to be protected is the right to be cared for. This means the parent must give their child shelter, food, health care, and education. If any of these needs are not met, Social Services should intervene. However, this is not always the case. Everyday, thousands of children are neglected and/or abused physically, mentally, and sexually; these cases are most commonly overlooked. This abuse can sometimes be so bad that the child does not survive. Child abuse is the most under reported crime in the world (Reeves, p. 4). New York Social Services defines child abuse as “Any parent or legal guardian inflicting physical injury, committing sexual offences, or endangering the physical, mental or emotional condition of any child,” (Wekeser, p. 15). If a child has unusual bruises or welts, lags in development, suffers from malnutrition or bad hygiene, chronic truancy in school, or consistent lack of supervision, as well as other indicators of neglect, one can suspect child abuse. Due to such abuses, there were 133 fatality cases reported in New York State in 1999. Eighty-nine of those cases were reported to Social Services, yet these children still managed to fall victim to the evils of child abuse. Families have the biggest impact on the children. Divorce is a tremendous issue which plagues our society today. According to the CRC, over 75% of the marriages today have ended up in a divorce which resulted in the question of who gets custody of the child. Custody is the immediate charge or control by one parent of a child for his/her safekeeping. Adults usually fight over custody. Children are torn between which parent they would like to live with and what everyone else would like them to do; this can cause severe psychological problems for their children. Social Services is responsible for aiding in the decision of which parent will receive custody of a child. The judge makes the final decision of custody where Social Services gathers the evidence as to which parent is most suitable for raising a child (Nazario, p. 179). Young children easily fall prey to the confusion of custody. Their loyalties to their parents can become distorted in many ways. Very often, a child may end up in the wrong place. Many cases developed where one parent received custody of the child over the other parent, and that parent, in turn, manipulated and abused the child. Social Services does not ask the child where he/she would like to live until he/she is the age of 12 or older. The Department of Social Services believes the child will not understand the concept of custody and may pick the “wrong” parent. When a parent receives full custody of a child it means the child lives with them and will attend school in the town where the parent resides. Children must be immersed in their language and culture outside of the home as well as inside. Social Services defined a pre-schooler as “a child from the ages of infancy to five or six years which proceeds to their attendance in elementary school” (Hawes, p. 36). Most children are enrolled in nursery school and/or kindergarten where they begin the education process. All children must be enrolled in school by the ages of five and six. Elementary school is where the learning process is continued. New York State passed a school attendance law in 1874 to eliminate truancy. Social Services does not intervene unless the child exceeds 100 absences. Eventually, a child grows old enough to finish school and begin to emancipate him/herself from his/her parents. On the date of an individual’s eighteenth birthday, he/she is officially an adult. At this point in life, he/she sheds their “childhood” rights and gain new rights as adult citizens of the United States. New York State Social Services Department is not doing their job to protect the rights of children. Everyday thousands of children are abused and die because Social Services does not do its job effectively. Without children, our society would never be able to flourish in later generations. They are the future rulers of the country and need to be protected. Social Services must protect the children and their rights in order for our society to prosper in later years. Bibliography: Hawes, Joseph M. The Children’s Rights Movement: A History of Advocacy and Protection. Boston: Twayne Publishers, 1991. Malaspina, Ann. Children’s Rights. California: Lucent Books Inc, 1998. Reeves, Diane Lindsey. Is Child Abuse a Serious Problem?. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 1994 Nazario, Thomas A. In Defense of Children: Understanding the Rights, Needs, and Interest of the Child. New York: Charles Schribner’s Sons, 1988. Wekeser, Carol. America’s Children: Opposing Viewpoints. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 1991 Word Count: 1751
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